Catharsis
Today, I feel like writing. I have come home for a few days to 'get out of my head,' after a hectic first week back at University. I feel like Blogging is my catharsis, a way to blurt all my emotions onto a page and release them from my mind, which is a little disconcerting considering that my University class will now be (potentially) reading my blog and, therefore, my innermost thoughts and, often, fears. Eeek.
Despite my fear of putting all this on the scary World Wide Web, I have always felt that writing is cathartic for me. Everything I write contains an element of myself. The majority of my characters are centred around my own fears, contain my characteristics, or exemplify some trait which I wish I had. My characters often play out a scenario I wish I had the luxury of being in, my fiction occasionally depicts my life had I changed my mind along the way, which I have done, frequently.
During my reading this week I came across an article discussing empathy in fiction and I found it truly fascinating to consider the way writers evoke empathy and work solely on empathy for their work. As a child I wrote a lot of self-indulgent stories about hardships, potentially trying to evoke sympathy in my (non-existent) readers. Enza Gandolfo's article Take a walk in their shoes: Empathy and emotion in the writing process from TEXT Journal I found an incredibly interesting read. Gandolfo discusses the issues for the author in creating a piece of emotional work and her advice in the ways in which writers can attempt to detach themselves from their work, to maintain an emotional equilibrium. Gandolfo describes her difficulties in writing her own fiction, which is heavily empathetic and the effect that this had on her emotional state. I can completely empathize with her struggle to remain in control of her emotion when writing, for I find it impossible to detach myself from the words on the page, because, after all, these thoughts have come directly from me. I am attached to them. The article continues by discussing the necessity of understanding that our writing does affect us, it is part of the author, but that it is not a bad thing to admit it, Gandolfo describes this as 'taking the sting out of the emotional intensity,' by being aware of emotional writing.
After reading the article, I am intensely aware of the words which I apply to the page, whether by my own hand or keys, and perhaps I should endeavor to take a step back to assess my emotions after writing something which I find a deep emotional connection with. Because, as Gandolfo laments, writing is 'turning pain into art' and this will impact our lives, regardless.
Quite deep thoughts for a Friday evening. I may indeed change my mind after finishing Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author.
To finish, a nugget of wisdom from my lecturer from this week:
'There is a fine line between fiction & fact, truth & untruth, telling stories and story telling.' How true. Are we story telling, or just telling stories? I write myself into my work, but is that truly me, truth or untruth?
Isn't writing mad/wonderful?
Today's soundtrack, Paloma Faith at the BBC Proms:
Works Cited:
Gandolfo, Enza, Take a walk in their shoes: Empathy and emotion in the writing process, TEXT Journal, April 2014, http://www.textjournal.com.au/april14/gandolfo.htm
Despite my fear of putting all this on the scary World Wide Web, I have always felt that writing is cathartic for me. Everything I write contains an element of myself. The majority of my characters are centred around my own fears, contain my characteristics, or exemplify some trait which I wish I had. My characters often play out a scenario I wish I had the luxury of being in, my fiction occasionally depicts my life had I changed my mind along the way, which I have done, frequently.
During my reading this week I came across an article discussing empathy in fiction and I found it truly fascinating to consider the way writers evoke empathy and work solely on empathy for their work. As a child I wrote a lot of self-indulgent stories about hardships, potentially trying to evoke sympathy in my (non-existent) readers. Enza Gandolfo's article Take a walk in their shoes: Empathy and emotion in the writing process from TEXT Journal I found an incredibly interesting read. Gandolfo discusses the issues for the author in creating a piece of emotional work and her advice in the ways in which writers can attempt to detach themselves from their work, to maintain an emotional equilibrium. Gandolfo describes her difficulties in writing her own fiction, which is heavily empathetic and the effect that this had on her emotional state. I can completely empathize with her struggle to remain in control of her emotion when writing, for I find it impossible to detach myself from the words on the page, because, after all, these thoughts have come directly from me. I am attached to them. The article continues by discussing the necessity of understanding that our writing does affect us, it is part of the author, but that it is not a bad thing to admit it, Gandolfo describes this as 'taking the sting out of the emotional intensity,' by being aware of emotional writing.
After reading the article, I am intensely aware of the words which I apply to the page, whether by my own hand or keys, and perhaps I should endeavor to take a step back to assess my emotions after writing something which I find a deep emotional connection with. Because, as Gandolfo laments, writing is 'turning pain into art' and this will impact our lives, regardless.
Quite deep thoughts for a Friday evening. I may indeed change my mind after finishing Roland Barthes, The Death of the Author.
To finish, a nugget of wisdom from my lecturer from this week:
'There is a fine line between fiction & fact, truth & untruth, telling stories and story telling.' How true. Are we story telling, or just telling stories? I write myself into my work, but is that truly me, truth or untruth?
Isn't writing mad/wonderful?
Today's soundtrack, Paloma Faith at the BBC Proms:
Works Cited:
Gandolfo, Enza, Take a walk in their shoes: Empathy and emotion in the writing process, TEXT Journal, April 2014, http://www.textjournal.com.au/april14/gandolfo.htm
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